1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an objective-lens guiding device and to an objective lens unit.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-229719, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
To obviate the need for positioning which must be carried out each time the interior of a small laboratory animal or the like is observed, there is a known technique in the related art involving securing an objective-lens insertion tool, into which an objective lens can be inserted and adjusted in position, to the skin of the small laboratory animal under examination (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-121947).
However, with the objective-lens insertion tool described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2005-121947, by securing the objective-lens insertion tool to the examination object once an examination site inside the small laboratory animal under examination is set, it is possible to carry out observation while positioned at the same location, even when repeatedly attaching and detaching the objective lens. However, during the process of searching for the examination site, it is necessary to perform focusing each time. In addition, when observing the surface of an internal organ or the like with a narrow-diameter end portion provided at the end of the objective lens inserted inside the living organism, the end face of the narrow-diameter end portion is inserted inside the living organism and thus cannot be seen from outside. Therefore, it is not possible to accurately determine the positional relationship with the surface of the internal organ or the like, resulting in the drawback that focusing at the surface of the internal organ or the like must be performed by trial and error.